


Closing Time

by Impossiblefangirl0632



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Co-workers, College Student Rey (Star Wars), F/M, Friends to Lovers, Museums, Past Child Abuse, Plutt is not nice, Rose is best wingwoman, Security Guard Ben Solo, Snark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:41:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23703292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Impossiblefangirl0632/pseuds/Impossiblefangirl0632
Summary: At the start of a new semester, Rey has to switch her shift at the Chandrila Museum's coffee shop from opening to closing shift.Ben, the museum's night guard, always comes in for a cup of coffee right before close.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 108
Kudos: 191
Collections: Anniversary Fic Exchange 2020





	1. Prologue: First Meeting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [niennathegrey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/niennathegrey/gifts).



> For niennathegrey as part of the Reylo Writing Den's Anniversary Exchange.  
> I'm combining your prompts of coffee shop au and coworkers (at the zoo? Museum? Something like that) to friends to lovers.  
> I hope you like it!

“Coruscant Museum of Science and Industry is located in the picturesque suburbs of The Glittering City. It sits on the edge of the water the last testament to a bygone era as the only remaining structure from the famed World’s Fair. Once the Palace of Fine Art, the museum opened to the public in 1934 as a collection of artifacts showcasing human ingenuity. Today the museum partners with Coruscant University to bring the latest in interactive technology to immerse guests in…”

The little bell above the door jingled and a gust of winter wind swirled around the previously stifling cafe. Rey looked up from the info pamphlet, one she had read at least a million times when business was slow. The lobby was clean, the front supplies were stocked, she just needed the clock to hit 5 o’clock and then she was free. The bell was either a blessing or a curse depending on the time of day. One minute to close, it was definitely a curse. 

This was why she never wanted to work the closing shift in the first place. Rose had told enough horror stories of people barging in literally as she was locking the door that Rey had sworn she would never close. But her class schedule had changed from treasured afternoon and evening classes to frigid, soul-crushing, morning ones. So now she was here, about to encounter a new species of annoying customer known as The Late Comer for the first time.

She got her first good look at him then, it was a shame he was a Late Comer because he was cute. No, Handsome. The more she looked at him the more disappointed she became why were the good looking ones always jerks? He was tall, his black hair framed his captivating face, and his eyes, oh his eyes. Rey wasn’t the swooning type but those eyes might have made her reconsider. If they didn’t belong to a Late Comer.

There was something inherently familiar about his face though, something nagged at the back of her mind like a distance memory just out of reach. She felt sure she had seen his face before but she couldn’t place it. Maybe he had come into the shop before when she worked mornings, at a convenient, normal time to get coffee.

Gathering herself, Rey grit her teeth and pulled out her second-best customer-service smile, the one that said ‘I’m legally obliged to be nice to me but I really hate you’ or at least that’s what she was thinking. In reality, it probably just looked like she was in pain. “Hi welcome to Coruscant coffee just so you know we do close at 5-”

In the meantime, Rose came out of the back, an industrial-sized box of pastry envelopes, wedged precariously in her arms. She set the box down on the counter with a thud. 

Rey cut herself off and glanced at Rose, trying to say with her eyes ‘what are you doing?!’.

Rose caught on quickly, she quirked an eyebrow and glanced between Rey and the man who was standing awkwardly with his hands tucked deep in his leather jacket pockets. 

“Oh!” Rose laughed, a look of realization on her face, “You don’t know Ben. I forgot this was your first-ever closing shift.”

Rose stepped out from behind the massive box so she could see better. “Ben this is Rey, she and Mitaka traded shifts this semester. Rey, this is Ben, he’s the museum night-guard.”

Rey freely abandoned her previous assumptions about him when the man, Ben, smiled tentatively causing Rey’s heart to do a double-take. 

He has dimples. 

“Hi,” Rey offered in return, feeling uncharacteristically shy. She shoved her hands in the pockets of her apron to keep herself from doing something she’d regret like playing with her hair like some school girl with a crush.

Rose tried and mostly succeeded to suppress a knowing smirk. “Hey, Ben-” 

He jumped slightly and turned from Rey to Rose. 

Rey found something to occupy her hands to keep from staring at him. Had his face been that flushed when he came in? 

“-Can you use your tallness to put this away for me?” Rose placed her hand on the giant box for emphasis.

Without a word he shed his jacket as he came around the counter, clearly something he’d done many times before. Rey watched as he followed Rose into the supply closet, the heavy box, which had looked so huge compared to Rose, fit easily in his arms. The fabric of his sleeves strained against clearly defined muscles as he slid the box into its designated place on the top shelf.  
Rose emerged first looking pointedly at Rey’s hand. “I think that spot’s clean now.”

Rey jumped and scowled at Rose who just chuckled lightly.

“Have a seat Ben while I get your coffee. An Americano with cinnamon?”

“Yes, please.” He straightened his jacket from where he had tossed it onto a stool and took a seat at the bar.

Rey added ‘deep voice’ to her growing list of qualities she liked in men. This list also now included tallness, soft looking black hair, and wide pouting lips. 

Rose handed Rey a to-go cup and a sharpie before wandering off to start Ben’s order. Rey thought it was silly to label his cup when he was the only one here but she shrugged and did it anyway, doodling on the cups was the only thing that kept her sane at this job.

She tapped the sharpie against her lips, debating what to draw. Silence didn’t usually bother her at work but she wanted to hear him speak again. “Will you be horrified if I sit on the counter?” 

“Not at all.“

From her new perch on the back counter, she began to draw a series of intertwining vines around the perimeter interspaced with flowers and butterflies. 

“So what made you and Mitaka switch shifts?”

His voice caught slightly on the ‘So’ as if he was unused to making small talk.

“I have morning classes this semester and he doesn’t the lucky jerk.”

He crossed his arms and leaned forward on his elbows, “Not a fan of mornings?”

“Mornings are fine,” she pulled a blue sharpie out of her apron pocket, she reserved colors for customers she actually liked, “I would just rather work in the morning surrounded by other caffeine-deprived souls than try and focus on class.” 

She held the cup up to her face, her tongue poked out between her lips in concentration and carefully colored in the wings of a butterfly. 

Rey may have missed the look on Ben’s face but Rose -who had quietly been watching the exchange between her best friend and favorite customer- certainly did not. His faint blush had returned and he looked to all the world like a man in love. 

Well, maybe not yet. But that wasn’t something a little meddling couldn’t solve.

After retrieving the finished cup from Rey she took her time preparing Ben’s drink giving them more time to chat. When Ben left, coffee in hand, a few minutes later Rose sidled up to Rey and nudged her playfully with her elbow.

“Somebody’s got a crush~”

“Oh, bugger off!” Rey shoved Rose away but didn’t do anything to try and hide her thousand watt smile. 

The subject of Rey’s crush didn’t come up again until after they had locked the doors and left arm in arm heading for the metro station. 

“I don’t know about a crush, but I definitely can see myself being friends with him.”

Rose scoffed, “Sure Jan. All those quick glances at his lips speak very loudly of your friendly intentions.”

“Okay so he’s cute. But! That doesn’t mean anything. There are lots of good looking guys out there.” She switched her accent into an over exaggerated posh one to quote “If the gentleman’s behavior over an extended period is agreeable then he may be considered. If not, he is fit only to appreciate from a far.”

Rose laughed, shaking her head. “Where on earth did that come from?”

“One of those period dramas Maz always had playing in the background, don’t remember which one. Maz said that it was the best advice about men she could ever give me and that I would ‘do best to remember it’.”

“Well then,” Rose’s North bound train was pulling in, “To Ben’s behavior being agreeable. I’ll make you a bet. Twenty bucks says you’re hopelessly in love within two months.”

She got on her train as Rey shouted after her “You’re on!”


	2. As Time Goes By

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I woke up at 4 AM and 3 hours later I still can't sleep so I'm posting this even though I said I wasn't going to until I had the next chapter written.

Ben came in promptly at 4:55 PM every day, ordered the same Americano with cinnamon, and was out the connecting door to the museum at 4:59 PM locking it behind him. At least at first.  
Four minutes a day wasn’t enough to carry out a conversation; conversations that, as time went on, progressed from-

“What’s your favorite color?” She was once again sitting on the back counter, sharpie in hand, ready to draw.

“Black.” He answered with a self-deprecating shrug, "Boring, I know. You?”

She blew air out her nose in an almost laugh, “I never would have guessed. Mine’s green.”

“It suits you.” 

Rey brought the cup she was doodling on up to her face to hide her blush.

-to-

“Why do you want to be a museum curator?” He’d come in early, two minutes to be precise. He claimed traffic was better than usual. Rey personally hoped it was actually because he wanted to talk to her longer.

“I’m good at searching for the best stuff. I like the permanence of a museum, they’re testaments to human ingenuity and I love that.” Rey felt her face flush and turned away to wipe down a counter, missing the positively smitten look on Ben’s face.

-to today’s encounter.

Four-thirty PM and Ben is sitting at the front counter nursing a cooling cup of coffee, a half-eaten pastry on the little plate by his left hand. He’d been here for 10 minutes just chatting with Rey, asking her about her day and listening with perfect patience as she rants about her Innovative History professor’s unreasonable demands while scribbling in a notebook trying to cram homework in during the slow period. 

“I swear he’s the worst. If I ever have a son I refuse to name him Todd, even if it’s the father’s family name for generations or something because from now on the name TOdd is just going to call up indignant fury and petty bitterness.” 

She dotted an ‘I’ with such force that the notebook slipped away towards Ben’s end of the counter. He absentmindedly started reading what she had written.

“Is this your dreaded mid-term paper?” He asked after scanning the first few lines.

She nodded glumly, “ Yes, it’s supposed to be about the history and development of artificial intelligence and I’m not sure how to start.” She twirled her hand in the air in a sort of frustrated, helpless gesture. “Research papers summarizing other people’s work has never been able to hold my attention.”

“Do you mind if I look at it?” His eyes were kind but a little guarded as though he fully expected her to say no.

She shook her head firmly and shoved the notebook closer to him. “By all means.”

He read quietly for a few minutes, taking an occasional sip of his coffee. Rey tried not to stare, she really did but all restraint was lost when he rolled up his shirtsleeves absentmindedly, eyes still fixed on the words before him. 

How can a man’s forearms look that good? 

She forcibly made herself look away only to see Rose giving her a Look™. Rey gave her a scrunchy unimpressed face before throwing a rag at her to shoo her off. Rose caught the rag and wandered off poorly smothering a laugh.

His voice made her jump slightly and turn back around to face him. “Your argument is solid though you lost me on your transition between your second and third point.” 

She leaned forward over the counter with her arms folded against her stomach to see where he was pointing.

“You also mentioned Admiral Ackbar’s contribution to the war games simulator's ability to detect a trap but-” He spluttered as he looked up, the tips of his ears were turning beet red.

“Ben?” Rey’s nose scrunched up in confusion, “Are you… okay?”

“Uh. Yeah. Sorry. Lost my train of thought. Um. What was I talking about?”

“Admiral Ackbar.” 

“Right. Sorry. I was going to say that I think you could add a bit about Ackbar’s Algorithm being used in modern drone surveillance to detect hidden hostiles in Mustafar. I think it could be your bridge to get from historic and conceptual uses to current applications.”

“Huh. I didn’t know about that. Thanks, Ben! I wonder why that didn’t come up in my research…”

“They only started using it about 4 years ago, and you know how the military is, public knowledge is still pretty vague.”  
“You seem to know a lot about it.” Rey tried to keep her voice even as though she wasn’t blatantly prying for more information.

“My squad used those drones pretty frequently. Got us out of trouble more than once.” He said this casually like it wasn’t a big deal. 

Rey’s respect for him grew. “I didn’t know you served. Which branch?”

He ducked his head, “Marines,” he answered gruffly, ”It doesn’t come up very often. I came home four years ago and settled on the other side of the country. I don’t know anyone here who knew me before.” He paused and corrected himself, “Well one person but I don’t really talk to her very often so-” he gave a kind of half-committed shrug as he trailed off. 

Rey’s heart clenched and then sighed in relief at his words, she scolded herself that they weren’t dating so she had no right to be hypothetically jealous. 

“Where are you from originally?” She was trying to push past the awkwardness hopefully only she felt.

“Chandrila.”

“Oh, I love Chandrila!” Rey gushed.

Ben’s eyes snapped up in surprise, “You’ve been? It’s the middle of nowhere.”

She cocked a hip sarcastically, “It may be the middle of nowhere compared to Coruscant but to someone from Jakku,” she pointed to herself, “It was the big city and the best place on earth.” She sighed a little wistfully.

Ben snorted. “Best place on earth huh? We can’t possibly be talking about the same place, but I’m curious, how did you end up in Chandrila coming from Jakku of all places?” It was his turn to lean forward, his whiskey brown eyes as equally distracting as his exposed forearms. 

“It’s a bit of a story…”

“I’ve got time.” He assured her.

Her eyes drifted involuntarily at the clock.

“Oh! Shi-” She turned and yelled toward the back “Rose! Why didn’t you say something!?” She turned back to Ben who looked like a startled deer in the headlights. “I’ll tell you tomorrow because you definitely don’t have time.”  
“What?” It was his turn to look at the clock and curse. “I’m sorry I distracted you for so long.” He stood and started to clean up his plate.

She waved him off, “Don’t worry about it. You’re late, get out of here, shoo!”

He laughed and hurriedly gathered his coat. “I can’t wait to hear your story tomorrow!” He called back as he was shutting the gate.

She smiled and rolled her eyes. That was something she appreciated about Ben. He always remembered what she told him. He took the time to listen and then he cared enough to remember, picking up conversations where they left them the previous day.

Rose, the saint, had finished closing by herself meaning they could leave shortly after Ben. 

“So…” Rose wiggled her eyebrows at Rey suggestively, “Did you mean to flash your bra at him, or was that a lucky accident?”

Rey stopped short color blooming rapidly on her cheeks and ears. “What?”

Rose stopped too, all laughter forgotten once she caught sight of Rey’s panicked expression.  
“When you leaned over earlier?’

Realization dawned on Rey’s face and she groaned, “That’s why he got all flustered…”

“I take it, it was not on purpose then.”

“Ya think?” Rey snapped.

“Hey look on the bright side, this is just another point in the Ben- we really should ask him his last name some time- is a gentleman scorebook.”

“I guess,” Rey grumbled, still feeling embarrassed. “It’s not like there’s much to comment on.”  
Rose rolled her eyes, “He’s a guy. But like I said, he’s a gentleman so it’s fine. He won’t mention it if you don’t.”

Rey still looked disgruntled so Rose nudged her playfully. “I know you like him. And he likes you!” 

Rey scoffed and started walking again.

“No, listen! I get to watch you two flirt every day, believe me, he likes you!”

“He might like Rey the barista but what if he doesn’t like the rest of me? I got carried away and I promised I’d tell him how I ended up in Chandrila and-” Rey cut herself off. The lump in her through was because of the cold air. Definitely the cold air.

Rose took her hand in a comforting gesture “I’m proud of you Rey. You offered to tell someone, that’s good, that’s progress. 

“I don’t want him to pity me.”

“He won’t. He strikes me as someone who gets it. And if he does you’ll tell him off like you told off the Solos and then you’ll both be fine.”

“Oh that reminds me, I need to call Leia. I need her help to surprise Maz when I go home for spring break.”

The conversation flowed onto spring break and midterms and if Rose would ever get it together and ask the cute redhead for his number. All the while the familiar wriggling thought in the back of Rey’s mind refused to stay still. She had seen Ben somewhere before. She just couldn’t place it. Maybe she’d ask Leia if she knew any Ben’s from Chandrila.


	3. A Date. Maybe.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey needs to go to an exhibit in order to do an assignment but she has class or work when the museum is open. If only she knew someone who could get her in after hours...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, COVID and life/starting gradschool/moving across the planet kind of killed my time/motivation to write this. But I'm stuck in quarantine now so here's a chapter. I may or may not finish this quickly now. We'll see.

“-And it’s not like I don’t want to, it’s that I literally can’t. No one in my class can, or hardly anyone. The exhibit has only been open for 3 days, it’s crowded all the time and we have other classes and jobs. It’s like he just expects all of us to stick around town for spring break which is ludicrous. My flight leaves Saturday morning, and I don’t get home until Friday after the museum is closed and this paper is due on the Monday after break!” Rey groaned in frustration, tapping her pen furiously against the countertop, 

Ben sipped at his coffee and gave her a sympathetic half-smile clearly unsure what she was going off about. He’d come in in the middle of a tirade to Rose and had been nodding along patiently knowing that she’d back up and explain eventually.

“We can’t just drop everything and shove our way through a crowd to see the new robotics exhibit no matter how much we want to.”

Ben straightened a little in his seat, “You mean our new robotics exhibit? That’s the one you’ve been trying to see?”

“Yes! We have to write a dumb reflection paper on the exhibit to prove that we went but I literally can’t with my schedule and-”

“I could get you in.” Ben interjected, “After hours I mean,” He could feel his ears heating up, slightly embarrassed he plowed on, “so you don’t have to miss work or class and then there won’t be anyone crowding the exhibit.”

Rey stared at him for half a second too long with her mouth hanging open in a perfect O before her eyes lit up and she smiled brightly 

“You would do that for me?” 

Ben ran a hand through his hair, a nervous habit he couldn’t shake no matter how hard he tried. 

_Don’t scare her off. Don’t scare her off. Don’t scare her off._

“Uh-” He had to clear his throat to keep his voice from cracking “-yeah of course. That’s what friends do right?” He made himself keep eye contact.

He dared to let himself hope when an unreadable something crossed her expression at the word ‘friends’.

“Right, friends.”

They hashed out the details before Ben had to go. Rey would close the coffee shop with Rose like usual and then wait for Ben to come back and let her in through the connecting door between the cafe and the museum.

As soon as Ben was definitely out of earshot Rose grabbed Rey’s hand and spun her around singing "Guess who's got a date!"

Rey pulled herself out from the spinning and shook her head, smiling a little sadly. "I don't think he meant it as a date Rose, he was just being nice, a friend." 

"Oh please, that boy's got it bad for you. You don't see his face when he knows you're not looking."

Rey rolled her eyes, that was Rose's favorite piece of quote-unquote evidence. "But he said-" 

“Rey, I love you, I really do but this isn’t a movie where people bemoan the ‘friends’ designation. Romance is built on friendship! Plus you know, as adults, you could maybe take this opportunity to talk about your extremely obvious mutual attraction. Just a thought.”

Rey flicked a stray bean at her annoyingly correct friend who swatted it away easily. “You’re much braver than me you know that right?”

Rose scoffed. “Lies.” She passed Rey the second broom and headed to the lobby to start sweeping.

A few seconds passed in silence except for the soft brushes of broom on tile. “I’m not braver than you Rey. I just want to see you happy and I know you and once you put your mind to something, you’re unstoppable. I’m just trying to give you a push in the right direction.”

Rey bent down to sweep her small pile of trash into the dustpan and to hide the sheen of tears in her eyes. Even after all this time sometimes heartfelt praise and care still made her tear up.

“Rose?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re the best.”

“Pretty sure you are but okay.”

\---

The coffee shop closed for the night without issue. Rose practically shoved Rey out the door when Ben knocked.

“It’s going to be fun,” she reassured her, “You’re going to see the exhibit, be able to write your paper, and get to spend time with Ben. It’ll be great.”

“Thanks, Rose,” Rey murmured quietly before opening the door and greeting Ben.

He nodded to Rose and smiled shyly at Rey. “Ready?”

“Yep.”

She followed him through the gate into the atrium before Rose called after them, “If everything secretly comes to life at night as your best friend you are officially obligated to tell me!”

Rey snorted and immediately turned crimson with embarrassment. She glanced at Ben to see if he’d noticed. He was laughing but it might have been at Rose’s joke. Rey’s heart melted a little. His laugh was incredible, and she would never get tired of witnessing it. She had a feeling that he didn’t laugh often enough, what with his gruff exterior and loner tendencies she’d observed this semester.

“So, do you want to go straight to the robotics exhibit, or do you want to see more of the museum?”

“Are you kidding? I’ve wanted to get a better look round this place for ages.”

He smiled at her eagerness, “Where would you like to start then?”

She shot him what she hoped looked like a flirty smile and not a grimace, “Where would you recommend?”

If the light pink gracing his cheekbones was anything to go by, she was successful. “Well, I do have one or two favorite spots…”

\---

They wandered for hours exploring the museum, talking about everything and nothing. Ben didn’t ask about Chandrila even though he was dying to. If Rey wanted to tell him about how she ended up in his town she would. He wasn’t exactly being forthcoming about his own past.

They spent an hour in the robotics exhibit, Rey excitedly scurrying along from one display to the next taking notes and making occasional comments to Ben who trailed behind her lazily.

Satisfied Rey packed away her notebook and skipped over to Ben with the brightest smile he had ever seen and took his hand, their arms swung forward slightly due to her momentum.

“So? Where to next?” She asked, still grinning.

“Uh,” Ben stammered trying not to stare at their clasped hands.

Rey’s face fell into a look of mortification, “Oh!” She pulled her hand back, “I’m so sorry I-“

Ben reached for her hand before she could finish stuffing it in her jacket pocket.

“It’s okay,” He reassured her. He bit his lower lip, doubting himself now. “Is this,” He held their hands up slightly, “okay?”

Rey squeezed his hand and smiled shyly at him. His heart felt like it might be trying to launch into orbit. “It’s more than okay.”

They just stood there for a few moments both too caught up in their own emotions and each other’s expressions to be able to say anything.

“You asked where next,” Ben swallowed, “I have an idea.”

He led her back down to the main floor and to the partially concealed door in the coming soon screen that surrounded the Chandrillan Express. She stopped short when he pulled out his keys and unlocked the door.

“Are you allowed to take me back there?” She asked in surprise, “Actually are you breaking the rules to show me around at all?” She sounded worried.

Ben turned back and took her hand again, “Don’t worry, I checked, this is fine. The curator, Ms. Holdo, she’s a friend and she was honestly a little thrilled that I wanted to do this with you. She thinks I don’t talk to people enough.”

Rey laughed lightly, “I wonder how she came to that conclusion?” she teased.

Ben rolled his eyes but lead her through the unlocked door regardless.

The Chandrillan Express had once been the fastest train in the republic and was one of the few permanent exhibits in the museum. It’d been roped off for close to a year now while the preservationists did their work. Holdo assured him that it was fine to take Rey back here as long as neither of them touched anything and didn’t go past any of the caution tape.

“They’re working on the engine itself right now so I thought you’d like to see the inner workings since that’s not usually on display.”

Rey was two steps ahead of him, already making her way over to the open compartments on the sides of the engine.

“This is incredible!” Her eyes were constantly moving, tracing components, and figuring out how the pieces fit together. “Hang on,” She squinted at one of the older pieces, “These are all Skywalker parts.”

Ben stiffened at his grandfather’s name, but then forced himself to relax. She’s tinkered with old cars, he reassured himself, she just recognized the stamp. It’s fine.

“The last couple I lived with before I graduated from high school, he had a garage where he fixed old cars so he had Skywalker parts floating around all the time.”

It was not fine, that sounded suspiciously like his father’s garage but then again, Chandrila was an old manufacturing city there was bound to be more than one garage that specialized in antique clunkers. He tried to ask what the garage was called but found he’d forgotten how to form words.

Rey moved around to the other side of the train, out of Ben’s sight. “Drove his wife crazy,” She continued, “There would always be random bolts or sparkplugs ‘all over the house. Leia eventually just made us turn out our pockets before she let us in the house.”

Ben froze. He spluttered but eventually managed a chocked “Leia?”

Rey’s voice sounded far away and slightly metallic, She must have gone into the engine now, “Yeah, Leia Organa and her husband Han Solo. They uh-“ Rey’s voice trailed off.

Ben found his feet again and followed her into the engine while his brain tried to comprehend this new information. Rey knew his parents. Rey apparently had lived with his parents. Did Rey know who he was? She had to, right? Solo wasn’t exactly a common last name. Then again did she even know what his last name was?

Rey stood near the conductor’s seat staring at a framed black and white photograph on the wall. “I recognize this picture.” She murmured.

Ben did too. It was of his grandparents, Anakin and Padme Skywalker and Ben Kenobi, his namesake. They were smiling, Anakin stood between his wife and his mentor/best friend. You couldn’t tell in the picture but Ben knew when this was taken, it was right after the first successful test of the Nubian engine block, the same one that had powered this train. Padme would find out a few months later that she was pregnant with Ben’s mother and uncle. And then less than a year later they would both be killed in a car wreck that may or may not have been Anakin’s fault.

“It was on the mantle,” Rey closed her eyes, picturing it in her mind, “Next to Han and Leia’s son’s marine portrait…”

Ben felt he was stuck on a beach watching the water recede and the tsunami rise. She didn’t know. But she did now.

Rey opened her eyes, staring at him with new knowledge.

“Solo!”

They both jumped and Ben groaned. Armitage Hux’s pasty face rounded the corner standing outside the train with a furious expression on his face. Ben could barely tolerate the second night guard at the best of times.

“What?” He snapped. Hux had the worst timing in the world.

“You promised you’d be done showing your girlfriend around before the midnight shift started. And yet she’s still here so if you don’t mind could you stop disgracing the exhibit and get a move on?”

Ben scowled at him, “She’s not my girlfriend Hux, and second, it’s not midnight yet.”

Hux raised skeptical eyebrows at him. “Have I ever, in the 3 years we’ve been stuck working together, been early to this horrible job?”

Ben looked at his watch and groaned, Hux was right. “Go away Hux, I’m kind of in the middle of something.”

Hux snorted derisively, “You were.” His eyes flicked to Rey and he smirked, “We have to do the half-way through checks come on.”

“Give me a minute.” Ben waved Hux away and turned back to Rey.

Except, Rey was gone.


	4. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey reflects on how she got to Chandrila originally.  
> Ben and Rey talk. Well. They try to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for mentions of past child abuse. It is vague but If you would like to skip it is the first three paragraphs in italics.

Rey willingly admitted that she had panicked. Now, nine hours later, on the plane home to Chandrila, Rey wished that she hadn’t run. She wished she’d waited to talk to Ben, get an explanation, and talk it out like adults like Rose told her to. Or at the very least, she wished that she had had the guts to answer one of Ben’s four phone calls; or any of his numerous texts besides telling him that she did get home safe when he threatened to call the police.

She groaned, the cold press of glass on her forehead offered some distraction but not enough. She pulled out her phone reading through the messages for the hundredth time.

**Ben 12:03 AM**

**Rey? Did you leave?**

**12:04 AM**

**I promise I wasn’t trying to hide anything from you. I genuinely didn’t know. And based on your face you didn’t either.**

**Hux has the worst timing in the world.**

**Are you okay? Where are you?**

**How mad are you?**

**12:08 AM**

**Rey, I’m so sorry**

**12:10 AM**

**Please just tell me when you get home. I saw you leaving from the coffee shop door.**

**12:20 AM**

**I don’t know how long it takes you to get home but I’m starting to freak out here.**

**12:25 AM**

**Please, Rey. Coruscant isn’t safe this late. I’m going to call the police if I don’t hear back from you soon.**

**Rey 12:27 AM**

**I just got home.**

**Ben 12:27 AM**

**Are you okay? I’m sorry. Can we talk about this? I know you have an early flight, but can we talk when you land?**

**Rey 12:43 AM**

**Yes**

She hadn’t slept much last night. Ben’s face was familiar because she’d seen it on the walls of his parent’s home. She could kick herself for not realizing it sooner. His face had lost the softness of youth and he’d grown his hair out to cover his ears, but she still should have recognized him. 

What did he think now? Han had confided in her once that their son had stormed out one night after an argument with his uncle and they hadn’t heard from him since. They only knew he had joined the Marines because of Leia’s contacts in the government. He hadn’t talked to his parents in years, there’s no way he would have known they’d taken her in.

She reread the texts. He didn’t know. And he knew that she didn’t know either.

 _This is just a misunderstanding_ , she reassured herself. A freaky cosmic coincidence that the man she’d been crushing on happened to be Han and Leia’s wayward son. What were the odds? And now she was going to their house. Maybe she could spend the week with Maz instead? Rey shook her head. No, that wouldn’t work either. She’d still have to see Han and Leia since they were picking her up from the airport and Maz wasn’t expecting a house guest for a week, the Solo’s were.

What was she going to tell them? Should she tell them anything? Did they even know where Ben was? Was he trying to hide from them? What if she told them and he got angry and never spoke to her again? What if she didn’t tell and Han or Leia found out and then they never spoke to her again?

Rey frustratedly massaged her temples. She didn’t want to lose any of them. Ben was too important to her and she owed Han, Leia, and Maz everything. She didn’t even want to think about where she would be right now if it wasn’t for them—certainly not on an airplane on her way home from university to people who loved her.

_Plutt was paid by the state to be her guardian which, to the petty crime lord, meant that she was just another con. He didn’t even let her get her license when she turned 16, afraid she’d run off. Rey had taught herself everything, driving couldn’t be that hard. She was observant, she knew how the car worked, it would be fine. Her 18 th birthday was coming, and she had overheard Plutt and his cronies talking one night about what options that opened up for them. Rey shuddered at the memory; bile rose in her throat. She had to get out of there. _

_Rey could do this. She could do this. She had to do this. This was the mantra she repeated to herself when she smuggled parts out from the junkyard and hid them away in the decrepit Ford Falcon. She repeated it when she snuck into Plutt’s office and used his computer and illegally modified printer to make herself a fake driver's license. She repeated it when she ducked under the thrown beer bottle that shattered against the wall where her head had just been. She repeated it while she fixed the falcon and when she finally got the engine to turn over, she smothered her cheer of joy and quickly turned the engine off so it wouldn’t wake Plutt._

_The old falcon was held together with nothing more than duct tape and a prayer, but it worked. It finally worked and she was getting out of here. No more drunken rages, no more snide comments about worthless addict parents, no more hiding from seedy business partners who looked at her like a piece of meat, no more Plutt. She’d lay low until her birthday. Get a job somewhere, save up enough for an apartment, maybe get a cat. She could live in the falcon, she had a handful of bills she’d stashed over the years hidden away under the floor mat, she’d be okay._

_She left in desperation three days before her birthday. As soon as she sped out of Jakku, across the fields of Dantooine, and onto the interstate she couldn’t stop laughing or maybe she was crying. It didn’t matter. She was free._

_She ran out of gas 40 miles outside of Hanna City. Out of the endless list of things broken of this piece of junk car, the fuel gauge was apparently one of them._

_Rey’s options were limited, she could try and hitchhike. Maybe someone would stop and call her a tow truck without asking about why she was out here by herself? She could just start walking, become one with nature, and live off the land. For now, though, she was sitting with her head resting on the steering wheel fighting back tears cursing the car and her own stupidity._

_A semi had passed about half an hour ago right after her car had spluttered to a stop. The road had been empty since then and dawn was coming soon._

_The tell-tale rumble of a car coming caught her attention. She looked up apprehensively, begging anyone who was listening for it to not be a cop. Someone must have been watching out for her because it was a tow truck._

_It was driven by an older man; his graying hair had more salt than pepper. He got out of the truck after parking in front of her and approached her window. Conjuring up courage from thin air, she tried to roll down the window but remembered she hadn’t bothered to fix it and instead got out of the car._

_The man stopped. He looked momentarily surprised to see the driver was a teenager but shrugged and continued forward._

_“Hey, kid. Name’s Han.” He paused for a second expectantly._

_Rey didn’t introduce herself._

_“My friend Chewie saw you run out and called me to come see if you needed help. He would have stopped himself but his cargo’s time-sensitive.”_

_“Oh, um that was nice of him, and you.”_

_Han waved her off. “I used to have a ford falcon like this one,” He looked almost longingly at the hood of the car, “Great street racer this model, with a few modifications. Looks like you know that too given what you’ve done with the hood and the…” His eyes sharpened taking in more details of the car._

_Rey gulped, she wanted to run but had nowhere to go. His eyes zeroed in on the pair of dice with chipped gold paint hanging from the rear-view mirror._

_He looked back at her now, eyes appraising. “Where did you find this car, kid?”_

_“I, uh, I mean, my dad-” she winced, she hated referring to Plutt that way, but she couldn’t lose this car. It was just her luck that she had run into the owner of the one car she’d stolen from Plutt out of the hundreds he had stashed in his junkyard. “-he gave it to me.”_

_Han just raised an eyebrow. “You’re a bad liar kid.”_

_Rey shrunk back prepped to run._

_Han put up his hands in a placating gesture. “Hang on, wait, look I’m just trying to help you out. I know what running looks like and from the look on your face you are definitely running. I can help you.”_

_He took a small step forward, “One runaway to another.” He promised._

_Rey sighed heavily and released her death grip on the car door. Her gut told her she could trust him, he seemed genuine enough. She eyed him shrewdly “No cops.”_

_He shook his head, “No cops.” He straightened a little, “Here’s what we’re going to do, I’m going to call my wife Leia, you can talk to her if you like while I get your car set. Then, we’ll get your car taken care of and you some food alright?”_

_Rey nodded mutely. Han stayed within earshot which Rey appreciated._

_His wife answered the phone quickly, the road was still quiet so Rey could faintly hear her voice through the phone._

_“Han? What’s wrong?”_

_“Hey, princess, why do you always assume something’s wrong?” Even though she couldn’t see him he put a hand to his heart in mock offense._

_“Because you don’t call unless you need help.” She answered blithely. Rey suppressed a laugh._

_Han winked conspiratorially at Rey. “You got me there. I’ve got a teenager here that’s having a bit of car trouble and I was hoping you could talk to her while I hook up the tow.”_

_A car passed so Rey missed Leia’s response, Han said something else and Rey tried to hear but she only caught the tail end “-helped Ben.”_

_Who’s Ben? Rey wondered. But quickly shrugged it off because Han handed the phone to Rey._

_“Hello?”_

_“You must be Rey. My name is Leia, hopefully Han told you that. I understand you’re having a bit of trouble.”_

Rey smiled at the memory now. Leia Organa was a force to be reckoned with and had quickly wheedled out Rey’s entire life story. They quickly learned that Rey didn’t want their pity and it took every ounce of their combined infamous stubbornness to get Rey to accept their help.

Leia used her considerable influence to have Plutt investigated and consequently arrested. Leia, Han and their next-door neighbor Maz had all been the caring guardians she’d never had.

The flight passed quickly. She played over possible conversations in her head until the plane touched down, not even the turbulence could break through the anxious spiral of what ifs.

True to her word, and because she knew it’d be better to talk to Ben before his parents, she called him first.

Rey didn’t remember that Ben worked nights. She didn’t realize he was sleeping until he answered and his voice sounded like he’d just been dragged back to the land of the living against his will.

“Hello? Rey? Is this you? Probably should have looked at caller ID before answering…” The last bit could only vaguely be understood as English.

Rey wanted to face palm but just exhaled heavily, feeling like an idiot. “Um, yeah it’s me. Sorry to wake you I completely spaced that you would be asleep still. I can call back later-“

“No!” Rey pulled the phone away from her ear. “No,” He continued at a reasonable volume, “Sorry, um, no this is fine, I figured you’d wake me up if I asked you to call when you landed. Don’t worry about it.”

Ben paused to breathe.

“So…” Rey started, all of her rehearsed conversations had flown off at the sound of his sleep addled voice. “Ben Solo huh?”

Ben sighed, “Yeah, that’s me.”

Rey didn’t say anything, just waited for him to continue.

“I-“ He swallowed loudly, “Don’t tell them. That you found me I mean. Please.”

“What?” Rey didn’t understand, “Why?”

“It’s… complicated.” He grit out, “I don’t know how much they told you but we weren’t exactly on the best of terms… ever. But especially right before I joined.”

Rey rolled her tongue over her teeth in annoyance as she considered her words. “So you want me to lie to your parents, people I care about, and not tell them that I met their son, who they love and miss-“

“They don’t-“

Rey talked over Ben’s interruption. Several onlookers gave her dirty looks for talking so loudly. She ignored them. “Who they LOVE and MISS, because why? Because you had an argument a decade ago that you won’t let go of?”

“I don’t want you to get dragged into this mess!” Ben hissed. He groaned; Rey could imagine him running a hand through his hair as he was prone to do when stressed. “What exactly did they tell you?”

“That you had a falling out with your uncle. Leia says you never got to tell them your side of the story.” She enunciated every syllable carefully when she said, “And they regret that.” She ducked around a boisterous family reunion as she neared the pickup curb. “They regret it Ben.” She whispered.

She heard him sigh and fall back onto the mattress. “Please don’t tell them Rey. If you tell them they’ll want to talk to me and I can’t, not yet.”

Rey stopped short from indignant rage. “Do you know how entitled that sounds? You have parents that love you and you’re refusing to even give them a chance!”

“You don’t know what happened Rey. You don’t even begin to know. If you want to tell them fine. But ask them first, ask them what really happened. And if you want to yell at me some more afterwards …” Ben who had just a few seconds ago sounded so angry now sounded utterly defeated.

Rey’s anger had dissipated too, “Ben… I’m-“

A familiar old rust bucket pulled up to the curb with a smiling Han at the wheel.

Rey swallowed. “I have to go, Han’s here. I’m sorry.”

Whatever Ben had been about to say was cut off as she ended the call. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know your thoughts! All of your lovely comments on the last chapter were a wonderful late birthday gift :)
> 
> The last chapter is currently being written with the next chapter ready to post once I finish the last one.


	5. Promises I intend to keep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doing talking

Ben dropped his phone and himself back onto the mattress with a frustrated groan. It would be just like his father to arrive at such a crucial moment.

There was so much more he wanted to ask Rey. He burned with curiosity over this monumental revelation. How on earth she had ended up living with his parents? What happened to her parents? Was she an orphan? Did his parents adopt her? Ben felt a sudden lurch in his stomach at the thought and sincerely hoped that she wasn’t legally his sister.

He resisted the temptation to text her immediately, knowing he should give them both more time to cool off. He had been determined to keep it together and not let the old anger he held for his parents to dictate their conversation. Ben punched his pillow into a more comfortable position. Realistically Ben knew that he had come a long way in maturity since the blow-up with his family but right now it didn’t feel like it. How was he supposed to have a civil conversation with them ever again if he couldn’t even talk about the prospect of doing so?

Ashamed with himself and knowing he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep anytime soon he got out of bed and sat down at his desk. If he ever wanted to hear her story she deserved to know his. He had been wrong to demand she get the story from them. She deserved to hear it from him, he wanted her to hear his version of the story too. Not as an act of emotional self-defense but because she was his friend, if he was being honest with himself, probably his best friend, and if she ever forgave him after this he wanted to be so much more than friends.

Pen in hand, he pulled a sheet of paper forward and began to write.

\-----

The ride from the airport to the house was quiet. Han had never been one for idle chit chat and was observant enough to realize that Rey was distracted by something. He also knew that if she wanted to talk about it she would, but not until she was ready.

Leia on the other hand took one look at Rey’s face and demanded, “Out with it.”

Rey shouldered her way past Leia and into the house pausing to pet the Solo’s dogs, Threepio and Deetwo. She didn’t want to have this conversation yet. What if Ben was right? What if the details of why he left forced her to see his parents in a new light, the way he saw them? She knew it was selfish but she didn’t want to let go of her view of Han and Leia, the near-perfect couple who had taken her in out of the kindness of their hearts. But she couldn’t reconcile what she knew of Ben with his parents. When she lived here in the past she had assumed that their son must have been terrible to have fought so much with such good people. But now she knew him and he was kind and gentle and considerate and not at all as she had assumed. So what had happened to cause such a rift?

Leia followed her into the kitchen, undeterred by Rey’s silence. “Rey, what’s wrong-“

“Why did Ben leave?”

Leia stopped short, this was not what she had expected. “Excuse me?”

“Your son Ben,” Rey said with force, “Why did he leave? What happened?”

“Where is this sudden interest in Ben coming from?” Leia questioned, her eyes narrowed and she surveyed Rey critically.

“Just,” Rey pinched the bridge of her nose cursing her own impulsiveness. “Just tell me, please.”

Han was leaning against the wall in between the living room and kitchen his arms folded defensively over his chest. “We sent him away when he needed us.”

Rey turned quickly to face Han, “What do you mean?”

Leia sat down at the table and rested her head in her hand, for the first time Rey saw the stalwart woman’s age weigh her down. “Ben had a lonely childhood, we were both too focused on our careers to make time for him, he struggled to make friends, when he got older he started getting in fights. I was worried I was losing him so we-”

Han grunted in objection. Leia looked at him wearily, “Fine, I, decided it would be best if we sent him to finish high school at his uncle Luke’s academy out in Yavin. It-“ Leia stuttered.

Rey’s frustration melted in disbelief. Leia never stuttered.

“-It didn’t end well.”

Han walked across the room and placed a comforting hand on Leia’s shoulder. “You asked why he left and we can tell you everything until he left for Luke’s, but what exactly they argued about? We don’t know.”

Rey swallowed, “So you have no idea why he would just walk away from his family?”

“We were never the best at being a family even before we sent him away,” Han sounded weary “All we know is Luke ended up in the hospital with a concussion and when he woke up Ben was gone. If we’d been better parents, he might have confided in us afterward. But we weren’t. We had never been there for him before, why should he have turned to us then?”

Han sat down next to Leia, still holding her hand. “We got a call a few days later from a marine recruitment office telling us that he’d signed on and listed us as his next of kin. We haven’t heard from him since.” He looked meaningfully at her and Rey knew that Han knew, or at least suspected.

“I-“ Rey, feeling conflicted over her loyalty to both parties, took a hesitant step towards the back door, “I have to think about this. I’ll be back later, I promise.”

Her phone was out of her pocket and halfway to her ear before the screen door slammed shut. Quickly changing her mind she stowed it back in its pocket before jumping down the porch steps and making her way to The Tree. The Tree was an enormous old evergreen in the far corner of Han and Leia’s yard. At some point, someone had pruned out the lower branches to create a sheltered, dry place to store firewood. This space was cozy in its own right but had too many spiders for comfort.

Rey tucked her phone deeper into her pocket while muttering curses towards the pathetic excuse for pockets in this pair of jeans. With her phone somewhat secured she scrambled up the woodpile and jumped for the lowest branch. Her hands slapped down on the rough bark with a satisfying smack. The familiar climb to her spot didn’t last long. At some point in his childhood, Ben had managed to get several sturdy planks up here and had built himself a not quite treehouse. It was mostly just a platform with a two by four curb around the edges with the message ‘Ben’s Place’ carved into the floor.

Rey hoisted herself over the edge and onto the platform. Leaning back against the trunk she pulled out her phone. There were two notifications waiting for her, a text and an email, both from Ben.

**Ben 11:34 AM**

**I’m sorry for demanding that of you. It was unfair. I realized when I calmed down that my parents likely don’t know what happened either so I wrote it all down for you. I’m sorry.**

She opened the email without responding to the text. There was very little text but two picture attachments.

**Rey,**

**I realized too late that I should have just typed this up.**

**-Ben**

The attachments were scans of a handwritten letter. Rey smiled a little at his familiar looping handwriting. The smile was short-lived. The further down she read the bigger the little worried v between her eyebrows grew.

The letter spoke of Ben’s increased isolation. His uncle, not wanting to unfairly favor his nephew, had gone to the other extreme being overly critical of everything that Ben did. Nothing was ever good enough. In the name of focused learning cell phones and all forms of communication outside of snail mail letters were banned. His parents never responded to his letters so he eventually stopped trying. With no nobody turn to Ben decided that if his uncle thought he was nothing more than a waste of space then there was no point in trying. His grades plummeted, he started getting in fights again.

**“The final straw was three months before graduation. Luke woke me up in the middle of the night, high as a kite and angrier than I had ever seen him. He was rambling incoherently about how I was a disgrace to the family and how my parents would be better off without me. He reached for something in his jacket and I panicked. Luke fell when I pushed past him and hit his head, I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t stay I couldn’t go home. So I found his cell and called an ambulance for him and then just ran. I joined up the next day and that was the end of it. When my contract was up, I moved to coruscant, got my GED, and started working at the museum. I’ve considered trying to talk to my parents but every time I’ve just felt shame over what I did and anger at them for abandoning me there.”**

Rey read the last sentence over and over again. He felt just as abandoned as she did. It was different yes, abandonment all the same. He understood that aching loneliness too.

With shaking fingers, she called him and lifted the phone to her ear.

He answered on the first ring, “Did you read it?”

“Yeah,” Her voice was thick with emotion she hadn’t expected, she cleared her throat, “Yeah I did.”

“…you’ve got to give me something here Rey I don’t know if you’re still mad or if you even want to talk to me anymore I know it’s a lot and-“

“Ben! No, of course, I still want to talk to you! Why wouldn’t I?” She didn’t let him answer that, instead, she plowed on. “I asked your parents before I saw your text.”

Ben inhaled sharply.

“They don’t know what happened, Ben. And I also don’t think they ever got your letters. They said the last time they heard from you was when they sent you to Luke’s.”

“What?” Ben asked in disbelief, “But that doesn’t-“ Ben stopped talking abruptly.

Rey waited for him to continue but when he didn’t she tentatively asked, “Ben?”

“That night,” Ben’s voice was thick with tension, “When he was rambling, he said ‘I was right to keep them, they would have broken her heart.’ I didn’t know what he was talking about and he got more frantic after that so I forgot but he must have been talking about the letters. We all had to give them to Luke so he would take them to the post office.”

“They never got any of them,” Rey whispered.

Ben grunted, “That, that explains a lot.”

They were both silent for a moment. Rey could hear a muffled sniff. It sounded like Ben was trying to get a handle on his emotions and she tried to give him the space to do so. Rey breathed in the smell of pine sap and took in the mini-ecosystem in the tree. She watched a train of ants scurry down the trunk and a blue jay return to its nest to add more sticks,

Ben exhaled deeply ending the silence, “Thank you, Rey.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Rey protested weakly.

“No, you did. You got their side of the story, something I’ve been too scared to do for a decade.”

“Well,” Rey chewed on her lower lip, “I care about all of you. All I ever wanted was a family so it hurt me to see a family I care about not talking to each other.”

Ben seemed to ponder this for a minute. Rey could tell he was holding something back.

“It’s okay you know, to ask I mean.”

Ben made a little huff of amusement, “Sometimes you are scary intuitive,” he admitted. “Alright then, how did you end up living with my parents during high school?

“It was just my senior year,” she clarified.

Ben was quiet for a minute. Rey could practically hear his mind working despite the distance and impossibility. Knowing Ben he was probably overthinking how to ask a question he thought she might be upset by.

“It really is okay Ben, I promise nothing you can ask will be too personal or insensitive or whatever you’re convincing yourself it would be.” She sounded sterner now, even to her own ears.

“Why?” Ben asked in a rush, “How did you end up with them? Did you always live in Hanna City? Why weren’t you with your parents? Do you-” He gulped, “Do you have parents?”

Rey took a steadying breath, the wounds of the past were long scared over so no tears welled in her eyes but the memories were still unpleasant. “I’ll give you the full story when we can talk in person again but the short version is I’m an orphan. I ran away from an abusive foster home in a junk car I stole from my foster father. I fixed it in secret but ran out of gas outside of Hanna City. Han, your dad, he was the one that gave me a tow. We were both a little shocked to realize that the car I’d run away in was his old Ford Falcon.”

Ben was silent for a second too long before responding. Rey watched a squirrel jump from one branch to another. “I’m glad you got out. No one deserves that least of all you.”

Rey who had been prepared to stubbornly say that she didn’t want pity was pleasantly surprised. Rose had been right. Again.

Ben snorted derisively and muttered, probably more to himself than to her, “Makes sense that he’d welcome you with open arms, you brought that blasted piece of junk back.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rey didn’t mean to snap and mostly succeeded but not entirely.

Ben seemed to realize he’d misstepped. “Nothing against you I promise,” He assured her. “Han loved that car more than me. He would have been eternally grateful to anyone who brought it back to him.”

He said this with such certainty it made Rey’s heart ache. She knew Han and Leia both regretted many things about how they had raised their son. They never went into specifics and Rey never asked before because she had always held a grudge against the boy who had abandoned such wonderful parents. But now that she knew him, and she knew Ben’s side of the story. It wasn’t that simple anymore. It never had been.

He sighed considering the revelation of a few minutes previous. “But I guess I might be wrong about that too.”

Rey opened her mouth but no words came out, she pursed her lips trying to think of some comfort to share.

“I think… I think I need to call my mom.” Ben admitted.

Rey felt her eyes prick with unshed tears, “I think, that that is an excellent idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may have encountered several other plot bunnies that refused to leave me alone so I still don't have the last chapter written but I am hopeful that posting this will give the motivation to work on it.


End file.
